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Records Management Policy
Policy owner:
General Manager Corporate Services
Approved by:
Executive Leadership Team
Date approved:
11 December 2017
Date last reviewed:
6 June 2019
Date or parameters for
Change in legislation or 12 months from last review
review:
All employees, contractors, volunteers, agency staff,
Applies to:
consultants.
Contact details for
Team Leader Information & Records Management
further information:
Location and
TRIM://17/991692[v2]
availability:
The Hub - Internal Policies
Contents
1.
SECTION 1 – INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 2
2.
SECTION 2 – POLICY STATEMENT ......................................................................................... 2
3.
SECTION 3 – APPLICATION .................................................................................................... 3
RECORDS OWNERSHIP ..................................................................................................... 3
RECORDKEEPING PRINCIPLES ......................................................................................... 3
RESPONSIBILITIES ............................................................................................................. 4
4.
SECTION 4 – DEFINITIONS ...................................................................................................... 5
5.
SECTION 5 – REFERENCES AND RELATED DOCUMENTS ................................................... 7
6.
SECTION 6 – DEVIATION FROM POLICY ................................................................................ 7
Christchurch City Council
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1.  SECTION 1 – INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction
As a local government organisation Christchurch City Council is
subject to the requirements of the Public Records Act 2005, so
adherence to this policy by all Council staff and functions is
mandatory. Any new service or business process involving the
creation, receipt and processing of records must comply with
this policy and associated procedures.
However, across the organisation the Council is experiencing
varying maturity levels in regards to recordkeeping capability.
Reviews of recordkeeping practices have identified the following
main issues:
  Council records are not consistently saved in the Council's
records management system (TRIM).
  Poor naming of TRIM documents makes searching for
information difficult.
  Information is often stored on individual PCs, flash drives,
email inboxes, etc., which makes it inaccessible to others
and in turn poses a risk to the Council.
  Hard-copy records are not returned to their original storage
location when no longer required.
These issues lead to less than ideal decision-making based on
incomplete information and difficulties discovering the correct
information when responding to information requests (e.g.
LGOIMA requests).
Therefore, building understanding across all parts of the
organisation that keeping of records is both a vital asset to the
Council and a government mandate is crucial.
This policy provides a framework for a consistent approach to
managing records, both current and archival, across all Council
functions.
1.2 Context
As a significant part of Christchurch City Council’s corporate
memory, records enable informed decisions based on
precedents and organisational experience. Records
management principles support consistency, efficiency and
productivity in service delivery, management and administration.
2.  SECTION 2 – POLICY STATEMENT
Policy
Christchurch City Council is committed to the creation and maintenance of full and accurate
records supporting its business activities, and to the provision of timely and comprehensive
information to meet operational business needs, statutory and accountability requirements,
and community expectations.
The policy's objectives are to improve the quality of decision-making, and organisational
efficiency and productivity through:
  Better access to information through a consistent approach to organising records
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  Transparency and accountability in actions and decision-making
  Improved recordkeeping that meets statutory requirements
  Management of the security and access control around sensitive records
  Ensuring the recovery of vital records as part of disaster planning
  Managing the retention, destruction and archiving of records
3.  SECTION 3 – APPLICATION
Application
Records Ownership
All records created or received by Christchurch City Council staff (including permanent,
temporary, contract, and volunteer) in the course of their duties on behalf of the Council are
owned by the Council and subject to its control – unless otherwise superseded by another
Christchurch City Council policy or agreement or as may be provided for in the Public
Records Act 2005, or other future legislation.
External consultants and service providers creating and processing information on behalf of
the Council must adhere to the Council's records management policy and associated
procedures. Records management requirements must be written into all contracts where
applicable.
Recordkeeping Principles
All practices concerning recordkeeping within Christchurch City Council are to be in
accordance with the following principles.
All records must be:
 Compliant with the recordkeeping requirements arising from the regulatory and
accountability environment in which the Christchurch City Council operates.
 Adequate for the purpose for which they are kept.
 Full and Accurate – to correctly reflect the transactions that they document.
Records must be full and accurate to the extent necessary to:
  facilitate action by Christchurch City Council employees, at any level, and by their
successors;
  make possible a proper investigation of the conduct of business by anyone
authorised to undertake such scrutiny, and
  protect the financial, legal and other rights of the Christchurch City Council and
any others affected by its action and decisions.
Records must be accurately and securely captured in the Christchurch City Council's
records management system when generated or received.
 Meaningful – containing metadata, information and/or linkages that ensure the
business context in which the record was created and used is apparent.
Records must be classified according to the approved Business Classification
Scheme.
Metadata will be assigned and remain linked to records and aggregations of records.
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Metadata for disposal of records will be generated or captured, by the EDRMS and/or
the Information & Records Management Team and managed systematically for as
long as required to account for the disposal.
 Authentic – enabling proof that they are what they purport to be and that their
purported authors did indeed create them through the use of appropriate metadata.
 Inviolate – securely maintained to prevent unauthorised access, alteration or removal.
Access to records must be controlled to ensure compliance with legislation and the
Christchurch City Council's Records Management procedures.
A security classification must be applied to Council records to provide a level of
protection based on their content and context.
Records must be stored in a manner that ensures that they are accessible to
authorised staff but protected from theft, misuse, modification, damage and loss; and
accessible over time.
 Accessible within the provisions of the Public Records Act 2005, the Local
Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 and the Privacy Act 1993.
 Retained for the time allocated in the Retention and Disposal Schedule (and any
relevant legislation) and only disposed of with approval from an authorised person.
Inactive records will be moved to appropriate offsite storage and managed in
accordance with the Offsite Storage procedures. If necessary, inactive electronic
records may be stored in second or third-tier storage in order to avoid affecting the
speed and availability of the recordkeeping system.
Vital records will be identified and managed in a secure and protected way.
The retention and disposal of records must be undertaken in accordance with
Christchurch City Council's approved Retention and Disposal Schedule and any
variations of this that have been approved by Archives New Zealand for use by
Christchurch City Council.
In accordance with the provision of the Retention and Disposal Schedule certain
classes of records will automatically be appraised for historical or legacy value by the
Christchurch City Council Archivist / Senior Information & Records Management
Officer at time of sentencing. The custody of these records will pass to Christchurch
City Council's Archives at this time. Electronic records in the Electronic Document and
Records Management System (EDRMS) will be appraised automatically in
accordance with the Retention and Disposal Schedule based on rules and reports run
within the EDRMS.
Responsibilities
Chief Executive
  ensuring that records management practices at
Christchurch City Council meet legislative requirements
and add value to the business operations of the Council;
  authorising the Records Management policy.
General Manager
  establishing the Records Management framework of
Corporate Services
policies, procedures and standards;
(under the delegation of
  supporting the implementation of the records
the Chief Executive)
management framework throughout the Council;
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  measuring the performance of the organisation against
these procedures.
Information & Records
  developing and maintaining recordkeeping strategies,
Management Team
policies, plans and procedures on behalf of the General
Manager Corporate Services;
  managing records and recordkeeping within CCC
consistent with the standards described in this policy;
  authorising the disposal of records;
  providing recordkeeping best practice and standards;
  defining classification regimes and taxonomies;
  identifying training needs;
  providing support to business units;
  managing the common and sharable points of access to
records;
  monitoring staff compliance with the policy and
associated procedures;
  reporting results of compliance reviews to the Executive
Leadership team.
Managers / Team Leaders
  ensuring that their staff comply with the records
management procedures;
  assigning responsibilities for records management
within their teams/departments;
  ensuring all new staff receive recordkeeping training;
  communicating changes to policies and practices and
ensuring awareness amongst their teams.
All Staff
  creating records to support their business activities
including documenting meetings, telephone calls and
other oral decisions and commitments and ensuring
content is appropriate;
  registering these records, regardless of their format (this
includes email), into the organisation-wide electronic
recordkeeping system;
  preventing unauthorised access to records;
  ensuring no record is destroyed or removed unless in
accordance with the retention and disposal schedule;
  ensuring records are stored in a manner that is
accessible to others and supports the knowledge
sharing culture of Christchurch City Council;
  ensuring that all records are appropriately reassigned to
other staff during periods of absence from work and
upon leaving Council employment.
4.  SECTION 4 – DEFINITIONS
Term
Definition
Archives
The documents created or received and retained by a person or
organisation in the course of the conduct of affairs and preserved
because of their continuing (or permanent) value or significance.
The building or part of a building where archival materials are located.
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The agency or programme responsible for selecting, acquiring,
preserving and making available archival materials.
Business
The conceptual, hierarchical representation of the functions and activities
Classification
performed by an organisation. A Business Classification Scheme is
Scheme
usually a taxonomy derived from the analysis of business activity. It is a
tool used for linking records to the context of their creation.
IRM Team
Information & Records Management Team ( [email address] )
EDRMS
Electronic Document and Records Management System. Christchurch
City Council's EDRMS is referred to as TRIM.
Metadata (for
Recordkeeping metadata enables the creation, management and use of
records)
records through time. It can be used to identify, authenticate and
contextualise records and the people, processes and systems that create,
manage and use them.
Record
Information, whether in its original form or otherwise, including (without
limitation) a document, a signature, a seal, text, images, sound, speech,
or data compiled, recorded, or stored, as the case may be,—
(a)  in written form on any material; or
(b)  on film, negative, tape, or other medium so as to be capable of being
reproduced; or
(c)  by means of any recording device or process, computer, or other
electronic device or process (Public Records Act 2005 (s4)).
Recordkeeping
The creation and maintenance of complete, accurate and reliable
evidence of business transactions in the form of recorded information.
Recordkeeping includes:
  the creation of records in the course of business activity and the
means to ensure the creation of adequate records;
  the design, establishment and operation of recordkeeping systems,
including the definition of metadata; and
  the management of records used in business (traditionally regarded
as the domain of records management) and as archives (traditionally
regarded as the domain of archives administration).
Records
Field of management responsible for the efficient and systematic control
Management
of the creation, receipt, maintenance, use and disposition of records,
including processes for capturing and maintaining evidence of and
information about business activities and transactions in the form of
records.
Retention and
A systematic listing of records created by an organisation which plans the
Disposal
life of these records from the time of their creation to their disposal. A
Schedule
schedule is a continuing authority for implementing decisions on the value
of records specified in the schedule.
Sentencing
Sentencing is the process of matching Council records to a specific class
of the Retention and Disposal schedule. This helps determine their value
and how they should be managed throughout their lifecycle.
Transaction
The smallest unit of a work process consisting of an exchange between
two or more participants or systems.
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Vital Records
Records that are essential for the ongoing business of the Council and
without which the Council could not continue to function effectively.
5.  SECTION 5 – REFERENCES AND RELATED DOCUMENTS
Document
Link
CCC Records Management
http://intranet.ccc.govt.nz/Teams/CorporateServices/IT/Infor
Procedures
mationRecordsManagement/SitePages/Home.aspx
Privacy of Employee Personal
TRIM://17/1426157
Information Policy
Contract and Commercial Law
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/2017/0216/latest/D
(Electronic Transactions)
LM7393940.html?src=qs
Regulations 2017
Local Government Official
http://intranet.ccc.govt.nz/kb/Pages/lgoima.aspx
Information and Meetings Act 1987
Privacy Act 2020
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2020/0031/latest/LM
S23223.html
Public Records Act 2005
http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2005/0040/latest/DL
M345529.html?search=ts_act%40bill%40regulation%40dee
medreg_public+records+act_resel_25_a&p=1
6.  SECTION 6 – DEVIATION FROM POLICY
Once this policy has been implemented, any deviations from this policy can only be made
with the approval of the Policy Owner. Failure to comply with the requirements of this
policy may be considered a breach of your contract or employment agreement.
The Policy Owner, your Manager or your HR Business Partner can provide advice
regarding this policy.
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